Hack 95. Watch TV on a Palm Pilot

Transfer prerecorded television shows, or any video, to a Palm Pilot.

ReplayTV (http://www.replaytv.com; $99 $799) is my PVR of choice for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that by using some free software it is possible to download recorded television shows onto my Mac. Once I get those shows onto my Mac, it is a reasonably straightforward process to get them onto my Treo 600 (http://www.handspring.com; $299 $479). Watching prerecorded shows can make the long commutes to and from work pass by a lot more pleasantly. It's also a cool way to show off my Treo!

8.7.1. Downloading Video from ReplayTV

The ReplayTV service distributes software that is able to upload pictures to a ReplayTV PVR (http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/dvr/photosoftware.asp; free), but a couple of third-party developers have created some free applications that can not only upload pictures, but also download captured video from a ReplayTV PVR:

DVArchive

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux at http://www.dvarchive.org.

ReplayTV Client

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux at http://www.flyingbuttmonkeys.com/replay/.

In fact, if you're running Mac OS X, FlyingButtMonkeys actually distributes a Cocoa-based application, called mReplay (http://www.bentpixel.com/fbm/; free), that makes downloading/uploading ReplayTV content a breeze. One cool feature this software possesses is the ability upload pictures from a Mac to a ReplayTV PVR for display (ReplayTV does not support Mac OS X with its software, so this is a nifty way for Mac users to access the full functionality of the PVRs). Figure 8-9 shows the mReplay application in use.

Figure 8-9. mReplay at work in the living room

When you launch the mReplay application, it looks for any ReplayTV devices on the same subnet. It can also connect to any ReplayTV device on the Internet, so long as the IP address assigned to the ReplayTV PVR is known. Downloading video is as simple as double-clicking on a show title.

The files are downloaded as MPEG-2 video. QuickTime requires that an MPEG-2 component (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/mpeg2playback/; $19.99) be installed before it will play movies in this format.

8.7.2. Creating Video to Play on a Palm Pilot

The next problem is getting video onto a Palm OS device, such as the Treo 600. A number of applications can play video on a Palm 5 PDA, but my favorite is made by Kinoma (http://www.kinoma.com). Kinoma's solution consists of a pair of applications that get video from a machine running Mac OS X or Windows XP and play it on a Palm OS powered device.

Kinoma Player (free) and Kinoma Player EX ($19.99) play video on PDAs running Palm OS 5.0 and greater. Kinoma Player plays video stored in Palm database (.pdb) files. Kinoma Player EX is capable of playing media in a number of formats, including MPEG-4, in addition to .pdb files.

Kinoma Producer ($30) converts audio and video files into a format for playback compatible with Kinoma Player and Kinoma Player EX. Producer has options to set the number of video frames per second, the video bit rate, and sound quality. You can set it to conform to a number of different Palm screen resolutions. Figure 8-10 shows Kinoma Producer about to create a movie for the Treo 600.

Figure 8-10. Setting up to convert a movie in Kinoma Producer

In addition, Kinoma Producer has built-in presets for a number of Palm devices. This makes configuration for a specific Palm device simple. Once you've selected your particular Palm device, click the Convert Files button. Producer will then begin your conversion, as shown in Figure 8-11.

Even under the Treo's 120 x 160 screen resolution, video can take up a lot of memory. Getting about an hour's with of video onto my PDA uses the better part of a 128MB memory card. You can get your video onto your Palm by copying the movie file Producer created to your Palm's memory card, or using the HotSync option to Install Handheld Files…

Figure 8-11. Kinoma in the process of converting a movie

Once you've copied your movie to your Palm, you can play it using the Kinoma Player. Figure 8-12 shows the final movie being played on a Treo 600.

If you plan to play video that lasts more than a few minutes, you'll probably have to purchase the biggest compact flash card you can afford. I have found that a 512MB card is not too expensive and will play almost anything shorter than The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

As you can probably gather, Kinoma's solution can get your home videos onto your Palm device just as easily as it can get television shows and movies.

Richard Wolf

Figure 8-12. The final movie, being played on a Treo 600